The families of the hostages arrived today to demonstrate outside the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem (Monday) in the early morning, to mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre and to sound a two-minute siren.
They called on Netanyahu to "put an end to the abandonment of their loved ones and return all the hostages in a deal - so that those alive can be rehabilitated and those murdered and martyred be given a proper burial in their country."
Eli Elbag, father of spotter Liri Elbag who was abducted from the Nahal Oz outpost, said: "A year of nightmare. Those who wake up in the morning, if they sleep at all, live and go to bed dead. Every day, a whole year. Every day, a whole year. And I say to the prime minister: 'They won't remember the perpetrators, they won't remember all the tricks, but what they will always remember are the hostages. Ron Arad, who we will not forget, and 101 other abductees. And woe betide them if they don't come back, because that's the only thing we'll remember, only that."
Shai Venkert, father of the hostage Omer Venkert, said: "We have run out of power! But in every little corner, in every part of my body, I have additional strength, because I have no right to give up, I have no right to sleep and do other things. This is my life's mission and we will bring everyone home. I don't think we need to remind them, but the most important thing in the State of Israel today is to return all the hostages!"
